Vieri the Pazzi
by Anima Liber
Summary: The untold story of a boy, whose life was tangled into an endless spiral of blood, love, and chaos.    Warning: boys' love
1. Prologue Part1

_The story of a boy whose existence has almost been forgotten by the passage of time._

_Here lies the boy that you have known of, but never understood  
>Here lies the man, whose story is yet to be told.<em>

_Here lies Vieri de Pazzi, the tragic hero and victim of the infamous Pazzi family._

_I now reveal to you: his beginning and end._

_All characters introduced in this fanfiction belong to Ubisoft._

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><p><strong>AN: Of course I don't know the actual story. u_u  
><strong>

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><p>"Your wife has bore you a son, <em>messere<em>," a grey-skinned lady dressed in worn fabric whispered heavily, as if each word meant an additional weight to her pre-existing shackle of the tongue. "But the mistress... she has passed."

The man quietly observed the poor woman slowly succumb to her suppressed tears while making a rather sorry excuse of a mask over her face by cupping her hands together. She wept with pathetic whimpers escaping through her wall of slender fingers. Her master, Francesco de Pazzi, cracked the lump that had formed in his throat and croaked out a strained,

"Why do you weep, when a son of mine has been born?"

"Because, _messere_," the lady moaned with agitation, "The Lady Pazzi- your wife- is dead! Her, a kind woman with of good heart!"

"You make no sense. You are too upset," the raven-haired man responded with an air of absolute stillness about him, "Take the day off. Enjoy yourself."

"Enjoy myself, _messere_? After the horror I have witnessed?" the servant flinched when her master abruptly whistled his personal guards over.

"See her out. Only let her back in after the nightfall of today."

For he was a Pazzi, his words were law within his Florentine villa. The teary-eyed lady was dragged off by the armed men. Francesco, upon witnessing the woman be cast out the door, quickly scurried into the chambers where his deceased wife lay in her eternal slumber.

There, aside from his resting wife, was another servant. Her years of experience under the Pazzi household had taught her to briefly greet the master, hand the precious babe over, and immediately take her leave—and that was exactly what she did.

Francesco de Pazzi sat himself down onto the soft sheets and leaned down to kiss his beloved's forehead goodbye. He was angry and confused—at the sudden loss, the weeping slave, and the babe in his arms. He wanted to smash it against the floor, for it had taken the life of his loved one. He wanted to crush its fragile skull with the sole of his boots.

However, when his pale lips touched the rather warm skin of his beloved, all of these vehement emotions were sucked out of him and his soul was replenished with tender compassion for his son.

He pulled away and whispered to the body a puzzled, "Why?"

Her lips, in his silver eyes, seemed to curl up in content.

A single teardrop clawed itself out of the depth of his throbbing heart and squeezed out of the man's eyes. Then another followed, and another. The ebony-haired babe whined as the thick droplets splashed onto his tiny face, trickling down the side of his untouched cheek. He whined more as his father cradled him close.

Pressed against the giant's chest, he could feel the comforting drums— rhythmic thumps of the heart. The babe, soon to be honored with the name Vieri de Pazzi, clutched at the dark fabric of his father's shirt with his delicate fingers and inhaled deeply.

This was his father.

This was his family.

…

And this was the man he would die for, when the time came.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm trying very hard to upgrade my grammar/spelling/punctuation skills! Please leave critiques~  
><strong>

** I'm sorry if this chapter's so short! This is supposed to be a quick prologue.  
><strong>


	2. Prologue Part2

Thank you for the support! I would especially like to thank _grimace and smiler_ for the wonderful critique and corrections!

**A/N: This is the second part to the prologue. I thought it'd be more appropriate to submit it as a separate chapter, since the time periods are different :C**

The tiny infant, released from the arms of his nurse, eagerly took a few shaky steps across the icy marble floor until his untrained knees were exhausted of their energy, sprawling the boy across the hard surface beneath him. The servant cringed, bracing herself for when the frantic wails sounded.

However, the boy stayed his silence. A toothy grin soaked his dirtied face as the child crawled back to his maidservant and held out his arms. When she had lifted him back onto his tiny feet, he immediately resumed to practise his walk again, with much more vitality this time. He had fallen again, but quickly returned to the nurse to be hoisted back up.

The toddler's stubborn will to learn and adapt eventually rewarded him with the ability to waddle slowly against the furniture until he had tired out.

"Yes, _bambino_," cried the lady, "You are doing very good!"

The praise visibly swelled the boy's proud chest, the grin splashing onto a wider radius than before. He let out a pleased squeal and tumbled back into the arms of his beloved nurse. A sniff; This was the scent of his mother, he assumed. He liked it.

It was delicate and sweet, unlike his father's musty one.

The warmth was suddenly ripped away from him. Another pair of arms—much stronger than the last, held him high off the ground.

"Vieri," the intruder called, "You are no doubt a rightful heir of the Pazzi blood!"

"He is very strong-willed, _messere_! A natural learner,"

The boy was cradled by the thick arms, the familiar warmth surrounding him once more. Francesco de Pazzi smiled down at his babbling son and gently rubbed his face with his calloused knuckles. The child—his child—nuzzled into the touch with equal fondness, "Of course he is. He is my son."

The man broke off his gaze with the toddler to face a middle aged man with sprouting gray hair, who had just drifted into view of the doorway.

"Uncle," called the younger man, "Vieri has learned to walk."

However, to Francesco's great disappointment, the man seemed to remain unimpressed by the infant's achievement and drily returned, "About time. I was beginning to lose my faith in him."

"He has barely begun to crawl," the older man's nephew protested, earning himself an icy glare. Francesco immediately fell silent and wrapped his arms around his child in a more protective manner.

The toddler giggled loudly at the light squeeze. His great uncle, however, was extremely displeased with the sudden noise.

"That boy should learn to not open his mouth without permission, Francesco," he snapped, a great frown perching upon his fading brows. The rush of hostility must have had hit Vieri, for the child broke out into a wail in midst of his little laugh, "Drop that child, _nipote_! Such a noisy gremlin is unwanted in the family! Let him cry on his own!"

"Uncle, he is a mere babe!"

"Francesco. _Drop him_," the man snarled, "Or I will rip him away from you and toss him out the door!"

The maidservant, who had been quietly watching the young master scream and cry in his father's arms, snatched the child out of the thick arms and dashed off out through the villa's main gates. Francesco de Pazzi let her do so, only out of his knowledge and understanding that the woman possessed much love for his son. After all, it would have spared his from further verbal lashing. Jacopo de Pazzi let the two go in hopes of them never returning again.

Escaping from within the darkness of the _Villa Pazzi_, the lady cradled her young master in her arms, planting soft kisses upon his chubby, tear-stained cheeks.

"It's okay, _bambino_. I'm here," she whispered, "I will take care of you."

Whether it was the touch or the promise, it was unclear. However, the toddler's cries reduced into soft whimpers, then finally small squeals.

"Your great uncle and father quarrel frequently, _messere_, but it's not your fault. It's never your fault. You are too sweet of a child," A tiny smile, "So never cry again, _bambino_. For me."

The smile grew wider.

"I want you to be happy."

**A/N: I thought having this secondary prologue was appropriate as a rather mild introduction to the minor characters who, as all Assassin's Creed II players are aware of, play a rather significant role in Vieri's life. ... The wetnurse will stay unnamed.**


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